Trash to Treasure Clutch

From trash to treasure with fused plastic. This great idea came from the January 2009 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. The artist was Alisa Burke, sharing this great technique.

 I laugh at trash to treasure...because I always save my grocery bags and use them for trash. This is not a perfect technique, but I found it very interesting. You fuse 8 grocery bags together, ink, paint, collage, stamp, stitch...whatever your heart desires and sew it into a clutch.

Here are 8 grocery bags, that were pressed between paper to fuse them. Makes a wonderful durable surface.

After I sprayed with colorwash, glimmer mists and painted with acrylics and stamps, this is what the paper looked like.

A little close up so you can see the wonderful texture.


 I sewed a handmade paper to the back of the plastic for the liner.


Then haphazardly stitched all over the paper, before I did the final stitching to make the clutch. When you're finished you seal the fused plastic with a water based polyeurethane.

 

I see wonderful potential for this technique. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by.

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The Life of Dreamona

Earlier this month, I talked about being involved in an art doll swap.This was the beginning sketch of my art doll using heavy Davey board and charcoal that I shared a couple of weeks ago. I love the look of these whimsical little dolls that I have seen online and thought I would have a go at it.
 
Here is the progress I made coloring 'Dreamona' with Prismacolor pencils. I was able to finish her face, which was really my greatest fear and even put a little twinkle in her eyes. She's approximately 12" tall.

Since she's been finished, 'Dreamona' has just been hanging around my craft area, making my heart happy and telling me wonderful stories about where she's going to her new home in Wyoming.
I had thought about gussying her up a bit, but thought her new owner might have fun doing that. I've loved her just the way she is. Farewell my friend, now go spread your happy dust around in Wyoming. I'm sure you'll warm her heart too.

Spring Daisies

It's about this time every year, when the cold and snow here in Michigan, just about leaves you begging for spring. Last week we had actual daytime temperatures of -14 degrees F. Baby, that is cold, even for us Michiganders. 
I decided to create a little springtime with a few daisies. This is an old stamp from TAC, the daisies  were mono stamped with watercolor markers.  I added a bit of glitter, which you can't see, and put it in the mail to an old friend. 
 
By the way, I'll be posting my art doll this weekend, by then, it will be in the mail to my swap partner.

Hope you're having a warm and wonderful week!




With Love, From Grandma

Olivia is my 3 year old grand daughter, and only grand child at this time. For her 3rd birthday, I sent her an art desk and momma filled it up with all the goodies. I'm very happy to report, that she spends many an hour creating her special art.

Her momma told me that Olivia loves getting her own special mail. So this year, I have vowed to try and send her a card or piece of art each month. This is the first card I sent in January, I believe the stamp is from Rubber Stamp Ave., but can't remember for sure. It was water colored using Tombow markers and highlighted with a splash of glitter.

The next card is the one I just finished for Valentine's Day. It was a storybook image that I photocopied onto Bristol paper and colored with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol.


I used a Sharpie Poster paint pen to doodle on the design and a few gel pens for highlight. Here's a close up of the card when it was finished.

Apparently the cards are a big hit, she made her momma read it to her several times.

So, when's the last time you made a children's card? What are you using for images? It's like a breath of fresh air.


Celebration ATC's

ATC's are Artist Trading Cards, miniature pieces of art. The only requirement is that they are always 2.5" x 3.5". They are most often traded amongst groups of artists. You can find the history of ATC's, and some gorgeous art here. At the PaperArtistsOnline forum, we often have themed trades for ATC's. As this was a 2 year anniversary for our forum, the theme was Celebration. 

These are the cards I received in exchange for six cards that I made. The last card in the photo is mine. If you click on the photo, it will enlarge, if you want a closer view. As you can see, there was a wide variety of views on the topic of Celebration, as well as many techniques.


To create my celebration party hat, I used a painted background that I already had on hand. The little flowers and tassel were made from crepe paper. I actually made these on January 1st, so a party hat seemed fitting.

So what do you do with these mini pieces of art that you collect? Often people save them just like baseball cards, which is what I normally do in an ATC binder. When I make a few extras for myself, they end up in my studio and sometimes as magnets on my fridge.

Color Challenge

This card was made for a color challenge at the Paperartistsonline forum. The challenge was to create a card, scrapbook page, tag, anything, using this months challenge colors. The colors for the challenge are dirty pink, cream, warm green and brown. I actually had a difficult time with these colors. What is 'dirty pink' anyway?
The collage was stamped on mini labels and colored with Adirondack inks. All of the stamps are from Club Scrap. So, when you think of these colors, what comes to your mind? I had a hard time getting a picture of an Easter basket out of my head, but I finally got beyond that.

You're one in a million...thanks for stopping by.

Working on an Art Doll

We're having our annual art doll swap at the Paperartistsonline (PAO) forum. I've really wanted to try my hand at making a whimsical type doll. The problem, is that I can't draw. Well, Santa brought me some great sketching pencils and a pack of artist quality erasers in my stocking this year, so I thought I would give it a try. The sketch was made on heavy davy board and will be colored with Prismacolor pencils. She is about 12" tall.
I'm seriously thinking of taking an online class to learn to sketch faces. Have any of you done this? Do you have any feedback? Stay tuned, we'll see how she turns out. This is for fun, right?

Black & White

I was inspired by these papers by My Minds Eye for a black and white card challenge. 



As a hoarder of paper and just because I just love to stamp, I often challenge myself to re-create a paper that I like with stamps and ink. The stamps are from Club Scrap and Paper Bag Studios.
I added a little scoring and here is the finished product.
I love to look at blogs and see what inspires other crafters and artists. It's interesting to look through the eyes of other people, don't you think?

I'm working on an art doll, that I'll share in a few days. Have an inspired week.

365 Days of Photos

So many people are keeping a daily photo journal  for a year. I've always thought that this was a major commitment, but a wonderful way to capture a year of your life. You take a photo every single day for a year. I decided I am going to try and do this, this year. We'll see how it goes. For those of you who have done this, do you print them and make an album? If so, in what type of format?

 I've been busy making cards the last week, as my stash is very low. I'm involved in a few monthly card swaps and a birthday card club, so this isn't good. I have a very difficult time doing cards assembly line style, I get bored way too easily. Lately, I've been trying to make 3 or 4 cards at a time of similar style to build my stash back up. For you cardmakers, how many do you execute at a time? I'm curious.

 A birthday card, "Here's a wish for happiness and many dreams come true, especially on your birthday, and all year through." The little girl is a stamp from Beeswax, colored with colored pencils and gamasol.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful and warm week. It's 10 degrees here in Michigan today.

Let's Talk About Personal Style

Happy New Year! It has been quite awhile since my last post. I've had house guests for two weeks and thoroughly enjoyed the holidays with family and friends. The decorations are down and the refrigerator is cleaned out. Time for 2011.

I thought we would talk about our own personal style. Do you have one? When I look around my home, I would definitely say eclectic..a mix of the things I love. Some traditional styles (tweeds and natural organic prints) mixed with antiques (shaker style, old warm wood) and just a splash of color here and there. I am not a decorator, don't pretend to be. But when people walk into my home, regardless of where it has been, they feel comfortable. Just last week a friend said, your house always feels so homey.

I find it very difficult to translate this style into my crafts. So, in 2011 I think I'm really going to try and focus in this area. I've made a couple of cards that probably most reflect my style, I hope you enjoy them.

Stamps are from Club Scrap, Hero Arts and PSX. I apologize for the photos, they were taken right on my craft mat. Can you define your personal style? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear.